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Research and Project Activities in Astrophysics

In collaboration with G Micela, S. Sciortino, and others at the Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo G. S. Valens, we conducted studies of X-ray emission from normal stars, primarily via observations of several open star clusters and star forming regions (viz. the Pleiades, NBC 2516, NBC 2264, and the Orion Nebula Cluster). Our work was based on combined data from several X-ray observatories, Einstein, ROSAT, XMM-Newton and Chandra, as well as ground-based optical and radio data. Preliminary results were presented at several meetings: HEAD/AAS, November, 1997 a 195th AAS Meeting, January 2000 a Three Islands Conference, April 2000 a X-ray Astronomy 2000, September 2000 a 197th AAS Meeting, January 2001 Two Years of Science with Chandra, September 2001

Harnden, F. Rick, Jr.↗

Nebraska NativeGEM (Geospatial Extension Model)

This proposal, Nebraska NativeGEM (Geospatial Extension Model) features a unique diversity component stemming from the exceptional reputation NNSGC has built by delivering geospatial science experiences to Nebraska s Native Americans. For 7 years, NNSGC has partner4 with the 2 tribal colleges and 4 reservation school districts in Nebraska to form the Nebraska Native American Outreach Program (NNAOP), a partnership among tribal community leaders, academia, tribal schools, and industry reaching close to 1,OOO Native American youth, over 1,200 community members (Lehrer & Zendajas, 2001).NativeGEM addresses all three key components of Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) goals for advancing decision support, education, and workforce development through the GES. The existing long term commitments that the NNSGC and the GES have in these areas allow for the pursuit of a broad range of activities. NativeGEM builds upon these existing successful programs and collaborations. Outcomes and metrics for each proposed project are detailed in the Approach section of this document.

Bowen, Brent↗

Restoration and PDS Archive of Apollo Lunar Rock Sample Data

In 2008, scientists at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Lunar Sample Laboratory and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory (under the auspices of the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate or ARES) began work on a 4-year project to digitize the original film negatives of Apollo Lunar Rock Sample photographs. These rock samples together with lunar regolith and core samples were collected as part of the lander missions for Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17. The original film negatives are stored at JSC under cryogenic conditions. This effort is data restoration in the truest sense. The images represent the only record available to scientists which allows them to view the rock samples when making a sample request. As the negatives are being scanned, they are also being formatted and documented for permanent archive in the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS) archive. The ARES group is working collaboratively with the Imaging Node of the PDS on the archiving.

Garcia, P. A.↗

NASA's Space Launch System: Deep-Space Delivery for Smallsats

Designed for human exploration missions into deep space, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) represents a new spaceflight infrastructure asset, enabling a wide variety of unique utilization opportunities. While primarily focused on launching the large systems needed for crewed spaceflight beyond Earth orbit, SLS also offers a game-changing capability for the deployment of small satellites to deep-space destinations, beginning with its first flight. Currently, SLS is making rapid progress toward readiness for its first launch in two years, using the initial configuration of the vehicle, which is capable of delivering 70 metric tons (t) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). On its first flight test of the Orion spacecraft around the moon, accompanying Orion on SLS will be small-satellite secondary payloads, which will deploy in cislunar space. The deployment berths are sized for "6U" CubeSats, and on EM-1 the spacecraft will be deployed into cislunar space following Orion separate from the SLS Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Payloads in 6U class will be limited to 14 kg maximum mass. Secondary payloads on EM-1 will be launched in the Orion Stage Adapter (OSA). Payload dispensers will be mounted on specially designed brackets, each attached to the interior wall of the OSA. For the EM-1 mission, a total of fourteen brackets will be installed, allowing for thirteen payload locations. The final location will be used for mounting an avionics unit, which will include a battery and sequencer for executing the mission deployment sequence. Following the launch of EM-1, deployments of the secondary payloads will commence after sufficient separation of the Orion spacecraft to the upper stage vehicle to minimize any possible contact of the deployed CubeSats to Orion. Currently this is estimated to require approximately 4 hours. The allowed deployment window for the CubeSats will be from the time the upper stage disposal maneuvers are complete to up to 10 days after launch. The upper stage will fly past the moon at a perigee of approximately 100km, and this closest approach will occur about 5 days after launch. The limiting factor for the latest deployment time is the available power in the sequencer system. Several NASA Mission Directorates were involved in the development of programs for the competition, selection, and development of EM-1 payloads that support directorate priorities. CubeSat payloads on EM-1 will include both NASA research experiments and spacecraft developed by industry, international and potentially academia partners. The Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Division was allocated five payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout is designed to rendezvous with and characterize a candidate NEA. A solar sail, an innovation the spacecraft will demonstrated for the CubeSat class, will provide propulsion. Lunar Flashlight will use a green propellant system and will search for potential ice deposits in the moon's permanently shadowed craters. BioSentinel is a yeast radiation biosensor, planned to measure the effects of space radiation on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Lunar Icecube, a collaboration with Morehead State University, will prospect for water in ice, liquid, and vapor forms as well as other lunar volatiles from a low-perigee, highly inclined lunar orbit using a compact Infrared spectrometer. Skyfire, a partnership with Lockheed Martin, is a technology demonstration mission that will perform a lunar flyby, collecting spectroscopy, and thermography data to address questions related to surface characterization, remote sensing, and site selection. NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) was allocated three payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. These slots will be filled via the Centennial Challenges Program, NASA's flagship program for technology prize competitions, which directly engages the public, academia, and industry in open prize competitions to stimulate innovation. The NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) was allocated two payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. The CubeSat Mission to Study Solar Particles (CuSP) payload will study the sources and acceleration mechanisms of solar and interplanetary particles in near-Earth orbit, support space weather research by determining proton radiation levels during Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events and identifying suprathermal properties that could help predict geomagnetic storms. The LunaH-Map payload will help scientists understand the quantity of H-bearing materials in lunar cold traps (~10 km), determine the concentration of H-bearing materials with 1m depth, and constrain the vertical distribution of H-bearing materials. The final three payload opportunities for the EM-1 mission were allocated for NASA's international space agency counterparts. The flight opportunities are intended to benefit the international space agency and NASA as well as further the collective space exploration goals. ArgoMoon is sponsored by ESA/ASI and will fly along with the ICPS on its disposal trajectory to perform proximity operations with the ICPS post-disposal, take external imagery of engineering and historical significance, and perform an optical communications demonstration. EQUULEUS, sponsored by JAXA, will fly to a libration orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 point and demonstrate trajectory control techniques within the Sun-Earth- Moon region for the first time by a nano spacecraft. The mission will also contribute to the future human exploration scenario by understanding the radiation environment in geospace and deep space, characterizing the flux of impacting meteors on the far side of the moon, and demonstrating the future deep space exploration scenario using the "deep space port" at Lagrange points. OMOTENASHI, also sponsored by JAXA, will land the smallest lunar lander to date on the lunar surface to demonstrate the feasibility of the hardware for distributed cooperative exploration system. Small landers will enable multi-point exploration, which is complimentary with large-scale human exploration. Once on the lunar surface, the OMOTENASHI spacecraft will observe the radiation and soil environments of the lunar surface by active radiation measurements and soil shear measurements. Following EM-1, Space Launch System will evolve to the more-powerful Block 1B configuration, which uses a new Exploration Upper Stage to increase the vehicle's LEO payload capability from 70 t to 105 t. With that transition, the Orion Stage Adapter, which will carry the secondary payloads on EM-1, will be phased out, and a new Universal Stage Adapter will be introduced, creating opportunities for flying larger secondary payloads. This paper will provide a brief status of SLS progress toward first launch; an overview of smallsat accommodations, integration, and operations on EM-1; information about the specific payloads flying on that launch; and a discussion of future accommodations and opportunities for secondary payloads on SLS for Exploration Mission-2 and beyond.

Robinson, Kimberly F.↗

Environmental Justice Needs-Assessment For Health & Air Quality: Assessing the Needs and Capacity of Organizations Working Towards Health and Environmental Justice Related to Health and Air Quality

Health and air quality are concerns in environmental justice (EJ) work, as air contaminants and their adverse health effects inequitably impact communities that are often underrepresented in research and litigation. Previously, the NASA DEVELOP National Program partnered with organizations that focus on a variety of health and air quality concerns and is now committed to partnering directly with EJ organizations to address inequities in health and air quality through the application of Earth observations. To support the establishment of future partnerships, DEVELOP is working to identify potential partners for further EJ research in the U.S. regarding health and air quality. This project conducted a needs assessment with EJ organizations to quantify their EJ involvement, geospatial capacity, and interest in collaborating with DEVELOP. A broad literature review identified multiple factors influencing health and air quality for potential DEVELOP projects: agriculture, heat, wildfires, industry and transportation infrastructure, and miscellaneous factors (e.g., burning, urban heat island effect, smoke plumes, truck exhaust, and noise). The needs assessment showed that 22% of the organizations interviewed were primarily concerned with transportation infrastructure, 21% with industry, 19% with heat, 10% with miscellaneous factors (e.g., resource mining, COVID-19), 8% with wildfires, 7% with agriculture, and 6% with resource mining. This will help inform the DEVELOP Program's pursuit of EJ projects relating to health and air quality. The team also created a directory for communities impacted by air pollutants to connect with geospatial resources and NASA Applied Sciences personnel for future EJ health and air quality work.

Elizabeth Duran↗

The NASA Astrobiology Institute: early history and organization

The NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) was established as a means to advance the field of astrobiology by providing a multidisciplinary, multi-institution, science-directed program, executed by universities, research institutes, and NASA and other government laboratories. The scientific community and NASA defined the science content at several workshops as summarized in the NASA Astrobiology Roadmap. Teams were chosen nationwide, following the recommendations of external review groups, and the research program began in 1998. There are now 16 national Teams and five international affiliated and associated astrobiology institutions. The NAI has attracted an outstanding group of scientific groups and individuals. The Institute facilitates the involvement of the scientists in its scientific and management vision. Its goal is to support basic research and allow the scientists the freedom to select their projects and alter them as indicated by new research. Additional missions include the education of the public, the involvement of students who will be the astrobiologists of future generations, and the development of a culture of collaboration in NAI, a "virtual institute," spread across many sites nationally and internationally.

United States National Aeronautics and Space Admin↗

NASA's Space Launch System: Deep-Space Opportunities for SmallSats

Designed for human exploration missions into deep space, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) represents a new spaceflight infrastructure asset, enabling a wide variety of unique utilization opportunities. While primarily focused on launching the large systems needed for crewed spaceflight beyond Earth orbit, SLS also offers a game-changing capability for the deployment of small satellites to deep-space destinations, beginning with its first flight. Currently, SLS is making rapid progress toward readiness for its first launch in two years, using the initial configuration of the vehicle, which is capable of delivering 70 metric tons (t) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). On its first flight test of the Orion spacecraft around the moon, accompanying Orion on SLS will be small-satellite secondary payloads, which will deploy in cislunar space. The deployment berths are sized for "6U" CubeSats, and on EM-1 the spacecraft will be deployed into cislunar space following Orion separate from the SLS Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Payloads in 6U class will be limited to 14 kg maximum mass. Secondary payloads on EM-1 will be launched in the Orion Stage Adapter (OSA). Payload dispensers will be mounted on specially designed brackets, each attached to the interior wall of the OSA. For the EM-1 mission, a total of fourteen brackets will be installed, allowing for thirteen payload locations. The final location will be used for mounting an avionics unit, which will include a battery and sequencer for executing the mission deployment sequence. Following the launch of EM-1, deployments of the secondary payloads will commence after sufficient separation of the Orion spacecraft to the upper stage vehicle to minimize any possible contact of the deployed cubesats to Orion. Currently this is estimated to require approximately 4 hours. The allowed deployment window for the cubesats will be from the time the upper stage disposal maneuvers are complete to up to 10 days after launch. The upper stage will fly past the moon at a perigee of approximately 100km, and this closest approach will occur about 5 days after launch. The limiting factor for the latest deployment time is the available power in the sequencer system. Several NASA Mission Directorates were involved in the development of programs for the competition, selection, and development of EM-1 payloads that support directorate priorities. CubeSat payloads on EM-1 will include both NASA research experiments and spacecraft developed by industry, international and potentially academia partners. The Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Division was allocated five payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout is designed to rendezvous with and characterize a candidate NEA. A solar sail, an innovation the spacecraft will demonstrated for the CubeSat class, will provide propulsion. Lunar Flashlight will use a green propellant system and will search for potential ice deposits in the moon's permanently shadowed craters. BioSentinel is a yeast radiation biosensor, planned to measure the effects of space radiation on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Lunar Icecube, a collaboration with Morehead State University, will prospect for water in ice, liquid, and vapor forms as well as other lunar volatiles from a low-perigee, highly inclined lunar orbit using a compact Infrared spectrometer. Skyfire, a partnership with Lockheed Martin, is a technology demonstration mission that will perform a lunar flyby, collecting spectroscopy, and thermography data to address questions related to surface characterization, remote sensing, and site selection. NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) was allocated three payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. These slots will be filled via the 2 Centennial Challenges Program, NASA's flagship program for technology prize competitions, which directly engages the public, academia, and industry in open prize competitions to stimulate innovation. The NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) was allocated two payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. The CubeSat Mission to Study Solar Particles (CuSP) payload will study the sources and acceleration mechanisms of solar and interplanetary particles in near-Earth orbit, support space weather research by determining proton radiation levels during Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events and identifying suprathermal properties that could help predict geomagnetic storms. The LunaH-Map payload will help scientists understand the quantity of H-bearing materials in lunar cold traps (~10 km), determine the concentration of H-bearing materials with 1m depth, and constrain the vertical distribution of H-bearing materials. The final three payload opportunities for the EM-1 mission were allocated for NASA's international space agency counterparts. The flight opportunities are intended to benefit the international space agency and NASA as well as further the collective space exploration goals. ArgoMoon is sponsored by ESA/ASI and will fly along with the ICPS on its disposal trajectory to perform proximity operations with the ICPS post-disposal, take external imagery of engineering and historical significance, and perform an optical communications demonstration. EQUULEUS, sponsored by JAXA, will fly to a libration orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 point and demonstrate trajectory control techniques within the Sun-Earth-Moon region for the first time by a nano spacecraft. The mission will also contribute to the future human exploration scenario by understanding the radiation environment in geospace and deep space, characterizing the flux of impacting meteors on the far side of the moon, and demonstrating the future deep space exploration scenario using the "deep space port" at Lagrange points. OMOTENASHI, also sponsored by JAXA, will land the smallest lunar lander to date on the lunar surface to demonstrate the feasibility of the hardware for distributed cooperative exploration system. Small landers will enable multi-point exploration, which is complimentary with large-scale human exploration. Once on the lunar surface, the OMOTENASHI spacecraft will observe the radiation and soil environments of the lunar surface by active radiation measurements and soil shear measurements. Following EM-1, Space Launch System will evolve to the more-powerful Block 1B configuration, which uses a new Exploration Upper Stage to increase the vehicle's LEO payload capability from 70 t to 105 t. With that transition, the Orion Stage Adapter, which will carry the secondary payloads on EM-1, will be phased out, and a new Universal Stage Adapter will be introduced, creating opportunities for flying larger secondary payloads. This paper will provide a brief status of SLS progress toward first launch; an overview of smallsat accommodations, integration, and operations on EM-1; information about the specific payloads flying on that launch; and a discussion of future accommodations and opportunities for secondary payloads on SLS for Exploration Mission-2 and beyond.

Robinson, Kimberly F.↗

Orbit Control Operations for the Cassini-Huygens Mission

The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was launched in 1997 as an international and collaborative mission to study Saturn and its many moons. After a seven-year cruise, Cassini began orbiting Saturn for a four- year tour. This tour consists of 157 planned maneuvers, and their back-up locations, designed to target 52 encounters, mostly of Saturn's largest moon Titan. One of the mission's first activities was to release the Huygens probe to Titan in December 2004. Currently in its last year of the prime mission, Cassini-Huygens continues to obtain valuable data on Saturn, Titan, and Saturn's other satellites. Return of this information is in large part due to a healthy spacecraft and successful navigation. A two-year extended mission, beginning July 2008, will offer the opportunity to continue science activities. With a demanding navigation schedule that compares with the prime tour, the Cassini Navigation team relies on operations procedures developed during the prime mission to carry-out the extended mission objectives. Current processes for orbit control operations evolved from the primary navigational requirement of staying close to predetermined targeting conditions according to Cassini science sequence planning. The reference trajectory is comprised of flyby conditions to be accomplished at minimal propellant cost. Control of the planned reference trajectory orbit, and any trajectory updates, is achieved with the execution of Orbit Trim Maneuvers (OTMs). The procedures for designing, processing, and analyzing OTMs during Cassini operations is presented. First, a brief overview of the Cassini-Huygens Mission is given, followed by a general description of navigation. Orbit control and maneuver execution methods are defined, along with an outline of the orbit control staffing and operations philosophy. Finally, an example schedule of orbit control operations is shown.

navigation↗

The First FERMI-LAT Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog

In three years of observations since the beginning of nominal science operations in 2008 August, the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has observed high-energy great than (20 MeV) gamma-ray emission from 35 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Among these, 28 GRBs have been detected above 100 MeV and 7 GRBs above approximately 20 MeV. The first Fermi-LAT catalog of GRBs is a compilation of these detections and provides a systematic study of high-energy emission from GRBs for the first time. To generate the catalog, we examined 733 GRBs detected by the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on Fermi and processed each of them using the same analysis sequence. Details of the methodology followed by the LAT collaboration for the GRB analysis are provided. We summarize the temporal and spectral properties of the LAT-detected GRBs. We also discuss characteristics of LAT-detected emission such as its delayed onset and longer duration compared with emission detected by the GBM, its power-law temporal decay at late times, and the fact that it is dominated by a power-law spectral component that appears in addition to the usual Band model.

gamma-ray burst: general↗

A Tale of Two Chambers: Iterative Approaches and Lessons Learned from Life Support Systems Testing in Altitude Chambers

With a brand new fire set ablaze by a serendipitous convergence of events ranging from a science fiction novel and movie ("The Martian"), to ground-breaking recent discoveries of flowing water on its surface, the drive for the journey to Mars seems to be in a higher gear than ever before. We are developing new spacecraft and support systems to take humans to the Red Planet, while scientists on Earth continue using the International Space Station as a laboratory to evaluate the effects of long duration space flight on the human body. Written from the perspective of a facility test director rather than a researcher, and using past and current life support systems tests as examples, this paper seeks to provide an overview on how facility teams approach testing, the kind of information they need to ensure efficient collaborations and successful tests, and how, together with researchers and principal investigators, we can collectively apply what we learn to execute future tests.

Callini, Gianluca↗

HaloSat – A CubeSat that Studied the Hot Galactic Halo

HaloSat was the first CubeSat competitively funded by NASA's Astrophysics Division. HaloSat surveyed the sky in the soft (0.4-2 keV) band with the goal of studying diffuse X-ray emission from highly ionized oxygen in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of the Milky Way (MW). The HaloSat science instrument (shown above ) contained three nominally identical X-ray detectors. The field of view had full response over a 10° diameter, tapering to zero response at 14° diameter. The detectors were sensitive in the 0.4-7 keV band. Typical halo spectra are shown below. The figure of merit for observing diffuse emission, survey grasp, is the product of effective area and solid angle of the field of view, AΩ. HaloSat has a small effective area, but a large field of view, giving it a grasp competitive with major missions. HaloSat’s grasp (17.6 cm 2 deg 2 at 600 eV) was larger than Chandra’s at launch (8.7 cm 2 deg 2 ). HaloSat data are archived at the HEASARC by a collaboration between NASA/MSFC, UI, and GSFC. See poster 104.01 by Jesse Bluem for details. HaloSat was built and operated by the University of Iowa (UI), NASA/GSFC, Johns Hopkins University, the Laboratoire Atmosphères, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), and Blue Canyon Technologies.

HaloSat↗

LunaNet Position, Navigation, and Timing Services and Signal, Enabling the Future of Lunar Exploration

The International Space Exploration Coordination Group established in 2018 the 3rd edition of the Global Exploration Roadmap (ISECG, 2018) that aims to achieve Mars human surface activities and identifies the exploration of the Moon as a critical intermediate step. A supplement covering updates on surface exploration scenarios was released in 2020 (ISECG, 2020). The Artemis Accords (NASA Artemis, 2020), first signed in October 2020, now includes over two dozen nations, in an agreement on the principles for best practices, including interoperability. September 2022 introduced the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Moon to Mars Objectives highlighting recurring tenets of collaboration with international and industry partners and interoperability, along with infrastructure objectives for Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT). The successful Artemis 1 mission paved the way to the ambitious plans to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon. Just a few months after Artemis 1 launch (NASA, 2022), iSpace HAKUTO-R Mission1 (iSpace, 2022) launched, being the first-ever commercial mission, launched by a commercial launch service provider, aiming to land on the lunar surface. The NASA Artemis programme plans initial crewed landings and traverses in 2025, supported by the Lunar Gateway, followed by regular launches to build the lunar systems (NASA Artemis Plan, 2020), (NASA, 2022). NASA’s contracts with Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS, (NASA, n.d.)) to deliver science and technology to the Moon, with launches starting in November 2023. The European Space Agency (ESA) Argonaut (ESA Argonaut, 2022) programme plans to have recurrent missions to bring payloads to the lunar surface, supporting lunar exploration. These are just a few examples of planned missions that will target the Earth’s natural satellite in the next decade, with forecasts of tens of missions per year (NSR, 2022), (Euroconsult, 2020). The large number of missions and the complexity of landing and operating are expected to demand a change of paradigm from the current Earth-based communication and navigation services. In recent years, several agencies have proposed to deploy cislunar communication and navigation services to support lunar missions (NASA LCRNS, 2022), (ESA Moonlight, 2022), (JAXA, 2022)). All these proposals seek to deploy service-providing satellites in lunar orbit to ease the user missions’ operations. The PNT services objective is to support all types of lunar users (e.g.: orbiters, landers, ascent vehicles, and surface crew and rovers). At the same time, NASA and ESA initiated an effort to define a common framework to ensure interoperability among different service providers: the LunaNet framework. The LunaNet Interoperability Specification (NASA and ESA, 2023) covers communication, PNT, and auxiliary services, by establishing a common set of requirements to ensure interoperability. This conference contribution will present the LunaNet PNT services, focusing on the Lunar Augmented Navigation Service (LANS) that resembles the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) concept on Earth: constellations of satellites broadcasting a radio navigation signal synchronized to a common reference clock, with augmentations to accommodate users’ needs in an environment away from Earth. This includes a description of the high-level LANS concept and the basic principles defined to ensure interoperability. In addition, it will describe the common S-band PNT Augmented Forward Signal (AFS) and common messages to be adopted for compliance with the LunaNet framework, and the justification of the selected approach.

LunaNet↗

NASA Earth Sciences Data Support System and Services for the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative

The presentation describes data management of NASA remote sensing data for Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI). Many types of ground and integrative (e.g., satellite, GIs) data will be needed and many models must be applied, adapted or developed for properly understanding the functioning of Northern Eurasia cold and diverse regional system. Mechanisms for obtaining the requisite data sets and models and sharing them among the participating scientists are essential. The proposed project targets integration of remote sensing data from AVHRR, MODIS, and other NASA instruments on board US- satellites (with potential expansion to data from non-US satellites), customized data products from climatology data sets (e.g., ISCCP, ISLSCP) and model data (e.g., NCEPNCAR) into a single, well-architected data management system. It will utilize two existing components developed by the Goddard Earth Sciences Data & Information Services Center (GES DISC) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: (1) online archiving and distribution system, that allows collection, processing and ingest of data from various sources into the online archive, and (2) user-friendly intelligent web-based online visualization and analysis system, also known as Giovanni. The former includes various kinds of data preparation for seamless interoperability between measurements by different instruments. The latter provides convenient access to various geophysical parameters measured in the Northern Eurasia region without any need to learn complicated remote sensing data formats, or retrieve and process large volumes of NASA data. Initial implementation of this data management system will concentrate on atmospheric data and surface data aggregated to coarse resolution to support collaborative environment and climate change studies and modeling, while at later stages, data from NASA and non-NASA satellites at higher resolution will be integrated into the system.

Leptoukh, Gregory↗

NASA Earth Sciences Data Support System and Services for the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative

The presentation describes the recently awarded ACCESS project to provide data management of NASA remote sensing data for the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI). The project targets integration of remote sensing data from MODIS, and other NASA instruments on board US-satellites (with potential expansion to data from non-US satellites), customized data products from climatology data sets (e.g., ISCCP, ISLSCP) and model data (e.g., NCEP/NCAR) into a single, well-architected data management system. It will utilize two existing components developed by the Goddard Earth Sciences Data & Information Services Center (GES DISC) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: (1) online archiving and distribution system, that allows collection, processing and ingest of data from various sources into the online archive, and (2) user-friendly intelligent web-based online visualization and analysis system, also known as Giovanni. The former includes various kinds of data preparation for seamless interoperability between measurements by different instruments. The latter provides convenient access to various geophysical parameters measured in the Northern Eurasia region without any need to learn complicated remote sensing data formats, or retrieve and process large volumes of NASA data. Initial implementation of this data management system will concentrate on atmospheric data and surface data aggregated to coarse resolution to support collaborative environment and climate change studies and modeling, while at later stages, data from NASA and non-NASA satellites at higher resolution will be integrated into the system.

Leptoukh, Gregory↗

The NASA Real Time Mission Monitor - A Situational Awareness Tool for Conducting Tropical Cyclone Field Experiments

The NASA Real Time Mission Monitor (RTMM) is a situational awareness tool that integrates satellite, aircraft state information, airborne and surface instruments, and weather state data in to a single visualization package for real time field experiment management. RTMM optimizes science and logistic decision-making during field experiments by presenting timely data and graphics to the users to improve real time situational awareness of the experiment's assets. The RTMM is proven in the field as it supported program managers, scientists, and aircraft personnel during the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (investigated African easterly waves and Tropical Storm Debby and Helene) during August-September 2006 in Cape Verde, the Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling experiment during July-August 2007 in Costa Rica, and the Hurricane Aerosonde mission into Hurricane Noel in 2-3 November 2007. The integration and delivery of this information is made possible through data acquisition systems, network communication links, and network server resources built and managed by collaborators at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC). RTMM is evolving towards a more flexible and dynamic combination of sensor ingest, network computing, and decision-making activities through the use of a service oriented architecture based on community standards and protocols. Each field experiment presents unique challenges and opportunities for advancing the functionality of RTMM. A description of RTMM, the missions it has supported, and its new features that are under development will be presented.

Goodman, Michael↗

Uncovering The Properties of Young Neutron Stars and Their Surrounding Supernova A Remnants

In the third year of this program, the following studies have been undertaken in support of this effort: G292.0+1.8: In our previous work on this SNR, we discovered a young neutron star and its associated pulsar wind nebula. Radio observations by Camilo et al. (2002) have identified a young 136 ms pulsar in the direction of G292.0+1.8. We have used Chandra HRC observations of the central source to identify X-ray pulsations at the same period, thus establishing the neutron star as the radio pulsar counterpart. We have also set limits on the cooling of this young neutron star based on the unpulsed component of the X-ray emission. We find that the limit falls slightly below standard cooling models in which the modified Urca process is responsible for the bulk of the interior neutrino emission. A paper summarizing these results is currently being circulated amongst co-authors for review prior to publication. 3c 58: Our Chandra observations of this Crab-like SNR revealed the presence of a young, rapidly rotating pulsar as well as a central compact nebula which we interpret as a toroidal structure associated with the pulsar wind termination shock. Our modeling of this structure has allowed us to establish a temperature upper limit for the neutron star which falls well below predictions from standard cooling models, and implies the presence of exotic particles (such as pion condensates) or other processes that increase the neutrino production rate in the interior. A paper summarizing this work has been published in the Astrophysical Journal (Slane, Helfand, & Murray 2002, ApJ, 571, L45), and the results were the subject of a NASA Space Science Update (4/10/2002) which led to extensive media coverage. Based upon our initial observations, we submitted a successful Chandra Large Project proposal for a 350 ks observation of this young neutron star and its wind nebula. Kes 79: Our Chandra observations of this SNR reveal a compact central source which appears to be the neutron star formed in the explosion that produced the remnant. There is no evidence for a surrounding pulsar wind nebula. The source properties are similar to the central source in Cas A even though the Kes 79 remnant is considerably older. The results have been published in the Astrophysical Journal (Seward, Slane, Smith, and Sun 2003, ApJ, 584,414). Chandra Survey for Compact Objects in Supernova Remnants: We have formed a collaboration to carry out an extensive search for young neutron stars in nearby supernova remnants. Using X-ray observations from an approved Chandra Large Project, as well as from additional approved XMM observations, we are investigating a volume-limited sample of SNRs for which there is currently no evidence of associated neutron stars. We have obtained extensive optical and 1R data to complement the project, and analysis of these data is currently underway.

Slane, Patrick O.↗

Knowledge Management

The emergence of rapidly expanding technologies for distribution and dissemination of information and knowledge has brought to focus the opportunities for development of knowledge-based networks, knowledge dissemination and knowledge management technologies and their potential applications for enhancing productivity of knowledge work. The challenging and complex problems of the future can be best addressed by developing the knowledge management as a new discipline based on an integrative synthesis of hard and soft sciences. A knowledge management professional society can provide a framework for catalyzing the development of proposed synthesis as well as serve as a focal point for coordination of professional activities in the strategic areas of education, research and technology development. Preliminary concepts for the development of the knowledge management discipline and the professional society are explored. Within this context of knowledge management discipline and the professional society, potential opportunities for application of information technologies for more effectively delivering or transferring information and knowledge (i.e., resulting from the NASA's Mission to Planet Earth) for the development of policy options in critical areas of national and global importance (i.e., policy decisions in economic and environmental areas) can be explored, particularly for those policy areas where a global collaborative knowledge network is likely to be critical to the acceptance of the policies.

Shariq, Syed Z.↗

Space Science and Technology Partnership Forum: In-Space Assembly Data Collection and Analysis

The Space Science and Technology Partnership Forum was established in 2015 to identify synergistic efforts and technologies across the government. In-Space Assembly (iSA) is the focus of the topic area that NASA is currently coordinating with other government agencies. This paper focuses on the data collection process, the data analysis of that information, and preliminary insights gleaned from the data. The goal of the analysis is to understand the linkages within the collected data, identifying synergies and gaps, and provide visualization of the current state of iSA needs and capability development across the government. Capability roadmaps, Venn diagrams, bubble charts, and scorecards (an overview of each individual iSA capability) are used to visualize the results of this analysis, which reveals areas of possible inter-agency collaboration, investment gaps in capabilities relative to the need, and capabilities that warrant engagement across multiple agencies to eliminate potential inefficiencies.

Arney, Dale C.↗